618** Texas Courts As Unprincipled Moneychangers

For a beautiful navy blue
T-shirt with "J.A.I.L." on the back and www.jail4judges.org large and visible over
the pocket, imprinted in a bright yellow-gold lettering, send your check payable
to J.A.I.L. for $11.95 plus $4 S&H. (Discounts on volume quantities.) Wear
them to your next courthouse function and watch the
reaction.

The refusal of all Texas
courts to rule on the constitutionality of the 1997 Texas Lien Release Act
in the Bowles case is beyond forgiveness. It portrays Texas courts as
unprincipled moneychangers in the halls of justice. Heads should
roll!

Certainly an independent
citizen review board with power to demand accountability is called
for.

Credit the JAIL4judges organization’s 7-18 newsletter for calling
attention to a recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi in
California to declare a 1996 anti-terrorist law "unconstitutional on its face"
because it fails to give the various listed overseas "terrorist groups" notice
and the right to challenge their terrorist designation. The 1996 law authorized
the State Department to designate groups as "terrorist". The ruling went against
the Justice Department attempting to prosecute persons in the U.S. giving
"material support" to such groups. A federal official said the 1996 law can be
fixed simply by having some sort of notice and hearing procedure

Here in Texas in 1997 the State Legislature enacted a law in which
precisely the same constitutional issue has been brought before both state
and federal courts. The law is the 1997 Texas Lien Release Law (often called
the Republic of Texas Lien Law) which was aimed at persons who were filing
bogus, fraudulent liens against public officials in the state. That law
authorizes a state civil district court judge, upon submission of a purported
false lien by a lienee, to declare the lien fraudulent without notice to the
lien holder and without allowing the lien holder the right to challenge the
judge’s declaration. The civil court ruling is then available to a district
attorney as grounds for a criminal action against the lien holder if the holder
refuses to release the lien. The unappealble ex-parte civil court ruling
becomes the basis for a double presumption in the criminal court that (a) the
lien is fraudulent and (b) that the lien was filed with intent to harm or
defraud the person whose property is subject to the lien. This, of course, is
a law that is "unconstitutional on its face" just as is the law Judge Takasugi
ruled on.

Houston businessman Harry L. Bowles was convicted
in October 1999 under the 1997 Texas Lien Release Law. His is the only time the
law has been prosecuted against anyone. The lien he filed was to protect a claim
on property he owned in Harris County that was the subject of a civil suit. One
need have no knowledge of the underlying particulars to understand that the
trial court should have dismissed the case when the constitutional issue of "no
notice" and "no hearing" was raised, which it was. That did not happen in
Bowles’ case. The issue has now been brought before every tribunal in the state,
the trial court, the 14th Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals and the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Each
and every court has refused to rule on the issue and Bowles apparently will be
subjected to false imprisonment unless an appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court is
permitted and a stay is granted for that reason.

The tragedy of this is that District Attorney John Holmes was
informed before Bowles' indictment that Bowles had never filed a fraudulent lien
against the property of any state official. Holmes was told Bowles was never a
member of the Republic of Texas organization. He was shown a letter from the
Texas senator who was the chief sponsor of the legislation, saying the law was
intended only to offer an expedited method of removing liens having no basis for
the claims made; Bowles gave him detailed information to prove basis, but Holmes
refused to consider the circumstances. Thus Holmes, agent for the State of
Texas, has forced Bowles to deliver some $50,000 into the coffers of the Texas
legal establishment to unsuccessfully defend against ex parte justice in the
courts.

One may hate everything Harry L. Bowles stands for. One may
believe the members of the Republic of Texas organization are subversive and a
threat to our governmental system. However, these are not considerations here.
The Legislature unanimously enacted a law that disregards elementary and
fundamental constitutional due process of law. All courts in the state have
refused to review it for its conformance with constitutional requirements. The
Legislature and the Judiciary have thereby melded themselves into a single,
incompetent self-serving unit. Under that condition, tri-partite government no
longer exists in Texas.

I have railed about the State’s prosecution of Bowles under a
facially unconstitutional law for years, before and after the trial and
conviction. The courts have ignored me. They have acted in dereliction of their
duty to rule on the primary issues of constitutional due process. This
exemplifies the swiftness with which the line between a constitutional republic
and a fascist government can be obliterated. This is very disturbing,

Now, finally, U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi has
shown that at least there is one judge in America willing to express the
obvious and declare that the Emperor has no clothes. His like is evidently not
to be found in Texas.

The refusal of all Texas courts to rule on the
constitutionality of the 1997 Texas Lien Release Act in the Bowles case is
beyond forgiveness. It portrays Texas courts as unprincipled moneychangers in
the halls of justice. Heads should roll! Popular election of judges certainly
has its advantages when these public servants refuse to honor the
responsibilities attending their office. Non-lawyer judges could do better.

Certainly an independent citizen review board with power to demand
accountability is called for.

Our thanks to Ray for this article.
Yes, "an independent citizen review board with power to demand (judicial)
accountability is called for" not only in Texas, but all across this
country!

It's
called J.A.I.L.

J.A.I.L. is an acronym for Judicial
Accountability Initiative LawJAIL's very informative website is found at www.jail4judges.orgJAIL proposes a
unique new addition to our form of government.JAIL is powerful! JAIL is
dynamic! JAIL is America's ONLY hope!JAIL is spreading across America like a
fast moving wildfire!JAIL is making inroads into Congress for federal
accountability!JAIL may be supported at P.O. Box 207, N. Hollywood, CA
91603To subscribe or be removed: add-remove-jail@...E-Groups may sign on at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jail4judges/join
Open forum to make your voice heard JAIL-SoundOff@egroups.comAsk not
what J.A.I.L. can do for me, but ask what I can do for J.A.I.L.

"..it does not require a majority to prevail,
but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's
minds.." - Samuel Adams

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches
of evil to one who isstriking at the
root."
-- Henry David Thoreau
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